While he had been solid for Durham, putting together a 6-9 record with 26 saves and a 3.00 ERA while striking out just over 11 batters per nine innings, he had been unable to translate that success to the majors. In his brief stints in Tampa, he has a career 10.95 ERA, and has given up 17 hits and 5 walks in 12.1 innings of work. He was still able to strike out more than a batter an inning, but heading into his age 30 season, it seemed apparent that de la Rosa did not have much of a future with the Rays.

The other shoe dropped today, when the Rays traded de la Rosa to the Angels for Steve Geltz. Much like de la Rosa, Geltz has not had a lot of time in the majors, as he appeared in two games last year for Los Angeles. While it may seem as though the Rays traded a minor league reliever for a younger minor league reliever (Geltz is 25), he has something that makes him an intriguing player. Quite simply, despite his small frame, Geltz strikes people out – his K/9 in the minor leagues is at 12.1 throughout his career. He did have a rough time for AAA Salt Lake, where his 5.08 ERA and K/9 of 8.8 were the worst of his career, but he still has time to develop.

The biggest knocks on Geltz are his control and command. In the minors, Geltz has walked just under four batters per nine innings, but he seems to have a tendency to miss his spots. He also throws a rising fastball, making him extremely prone to fly balls, and, subsequently, home runs. Yet, the Rays happen to have a park in Tropicana Field that plays as an extreme pitcher’s park, with only 87 home runs for every 100 given up in a neutral park. Playing for the Rays may help mitigate some of the potential issues with home runs.

At first glance, this trade may not appear to be of much significance. However, in a year or two, Steve Geltz may end up as an important piece of the bullpen.

“If I have to take a day off here and there to not go on the DL and not have to deal with that kind of stress or worry, I’ll do it,” he said. “Trying to avoid the DL is going to be the biggest thing for me.”

In addition to staying on the field and playing as well as everyone in baseball knows he can, Longoria is going to have additional expectations bestowed on him to be a clubhouse leader after veterans like James Shields, B.J. Upton, and Carlos Pena left this offseason. That’s not going to be a problem for Longoria and he’s going to be proactive making that happen.

“I just told myself coming into spring this year that I would do a better job at meeting the new guys and just making myself available,” he said.

Longo obviously was not the only member of the Rays thrilled that baseball’s back and that an exciting season awaits. Joe Maddon is excited about his team for 2013 and especially can’t wait to see Yunel Escobar and Roberto Hernandez.

Maddon said new SS Yunel Escobar has the potential to be an All-Star and Gold Glover and is “a very bright, heady player.”

Joe Maddon says his spring training sleeper on the pitching staff is Roberto Hernandez.

— Kevin ODonnell Fox13 (@ODonnellFox13) February 12, 2013

Overall, Maddon has a good feeling that exciting things are ahead.

 ”I like what we’ve done. All the gaps were kinda plugged up so I think it’s going to be another very good season.”

There were also a couple of news items. The first is that right-hander Dane De La Rosa, who was designated for assignment after Luke Scott officially signed with the Rays, has passed through waivers and will remain in the organization. He will still be a part of major league spring training and is expected to report tomorrow. One better-known pitcher who Rays fans could be seeing at the Rays’ spring home in Port Charlotte is Joel Peralta, who has been talking with Andrew Friedman about skipping the World Baseball Classic after pitching in Winter Ball. Peralta is fine with the decision.

“It’s whatever is best for me and the team, or the team and me,” Peralta said.

The Rays’ still appearing in the World Baseball Classic will be Ben Zobrist for the USA, Fernando Rodney for the Dominican Republic, Jose Molina for Puerto Rico, and minor leaguers Leonardo Reginatto and Iago Januario for Brazil.

To accommodate Scott on their 40-man roster, the Rays designate right-handed reliever Dane De La Rosa for assignment. De La Rosa, who turned 30 a few days ago, managed a 12.50 ERA in 5 relief appearances with the Rays but a 2.79 ERA, an 87-42 strikeout to walk ratio, and 20 saves in 67.2 innings pitched at Triple-A Durham. De La Rosa touches 95 MPH with his fastball, but struggles with his control and secondary pitches, and that has prevented him from cracking the Rays’ bullpen for any extended period of time. There’s a good chance that De La Rosa will pass through waivers and remain in the Rays organization.